The XXV UPAV Congress (http://www.appraisalinstitute.org/membership/upav.aspx) is being hosted by the Appraisal Institute, the largest U.S. professional association of real estate appraisers. This year’s Congress will mark just the third time it has been held in the United States. UPAV is an organization of 18 appraisal associations located throughout the Western Hemisphere.

“Over the last 50 years, each Congress has resulted in a rich blend of technical, social and cultural activities,” said Appraisal Institute President Leslie Sellers, MAI, SRA. “We are very pleased to continue this tradition in Miami, a city with a great cultural heritage that has long been the gateway between South and North America.”

Pittenger will address how the current economic downturn began, where it stands, where the economy might be heading and how it will change the way real estate is bought, sold, valued and financed. He is a business economist and real estate appraiser with nearly four decades of diverse experience in real estate, economic analysis, forecasting and valuation.

Pittenger has served as corporate chief appraiser at a $44 billion super-regional bank and as chief real estate economist and risk adviser at a $2.2 billion community bank as well as at two U.S. federal banking agencies. He is the author of six books and more than 200 articles who has taught bank examiners at the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council as well as at all of the federal banking agencies. He also has testified before Congressional committees.

Miller will examine the pricing trends for commercial real estate over the last several years and will focus on the spreads in pricing based on location, size, quality and distress. He is vice president of analytics for the CoStar Group, a public commercial real estate data and market analysis company headquartered in Bethesda, Md. He had been academic director at the Burnham-Moores Center for Real Estate at the University of San Diego, where he retains the positions of distinguished research professor and editor of the Journal of Sustainable Real Estate.

Previously, Miller was at the University of Cincinnati, where he was academic director and founder of the real estate program. He has written numerous books and articles on housing, brokerage, mortgage risk, valuation, sustainable real estate and many other topics. He has lectured domestically and globally from Singapore to Russia to Thailand.

Other presentations at the XXV UPAV Congress will include “Recognizing Uncertainty and Valuing Flexibility in Appraisals” by Richard de Neufville, Ph.D., professor of engineering systems and of civil and environmental engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Michel-Alexandre Cardin, a doctoral candidate in the Engineering Systems Division at MIT. Sarah von Helfenstein, senior valuation manager of Braver Valuation Services LLC in Boston, will lead a workshop on the same topic.

The UPAV Congress previously was held in the United States in 1976 and 1996. Both events took place in Chicago. The Appraisal Institute is based in Chicago, as was a predecessor organization.

The Appraisal Institute is a global membership association of professional real estate appraisers, with more than 25,000 members and 91 chapters throughout the world. Its mission is to advance professionalism and ethics, global standards, methodologies, and practices through the professional development of property economics worldwide. Organized in 1932, the Appraisal Institute advocates equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in the appraisal profession and conducts its activities in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Members of the Appraisal Institute benefit from an array of professional education and advocacy programs, and may hold the prestigious MAI, SRPA and SRA designations. For more information regarding the Appraisal Institute, please visit www.appraisalinstitute.org.

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The Appraisal Institute is a global membership association of professional real estate appraisers, with more than 25,000 members and 91 chapters throughout the world. Its mission is to advance professionalism and ethics, global standards, methodologies, and practices through the professional development of property economics worldwide. Organized in 1932, the Appraisal Institute advocates equal opportunity and nondiscrimination in the appraisal profession and conducts its activities in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Members of the Appraisal Institute benefit from an array of professional education and advocacy programs, and may hold the prestigious MAI, SRPA and SRA designations. For more information regarding the Appraisal Institute, please visit www.appraisalinstitute.org.